By Musa Adamu with agency reports
Abuja
The Chief Executive Officer an oil and natural gas producer in Egypt and Iraq,Crescent Petroleum Company, Majid Jafar, has said he expects crude prices to improve this year as supply becomes more in line with demand.
He said this was notwithstanding the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), saying it would not have a lasting effect on crude prices and that London would remain a centre for international oil and gas companies.
Oil fell 4.9 percent in New York and London on Friday after the U.K. voted to exit from the 28-member bloc, with benchmark Brent crude settling at $48.41 a barrel.
He told a local media in Dubai that: “We will start to see oil prices creeping back up. I would not be surprised if we even hit $60 this year.”
Crude has gained about 30 percent this year on supply disruptions from Nigeria to Canada and falling production in the U.S.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have produced crude without limits since 2014 in an effort to maintain market share and force higher-cost suppliers such as U.S. shale to reign in production.
But Jafar said: “If we look at the supply-demand balance, it is actually tightening. That will continue as the year goes forward.”
